Improvement in water-wheels



zsh CHARLES E'IBROOKS. eets Sheeti Water Wheels.

' Sh g--Shl CHARLES E. BROOKS/j Se e?? Water Wheels.

Patent-ed Feb. 6,1872.

INVENT'R.:

UNrrnn Srnrns CHARLES E. BROOKS, OF MARSHALL, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNORTWO-THIRDS OF HIS RIGHT TO CHARLES S. CRANE AND PARKER P. HAMILTON, OF

SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN WATERnWHEELS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 123,448, dated February6, i872.

Speciiication describing certain Improvements in Undershot Vater-lVheelsfor Natural Currents or Low Heads of I/Vater, invented by CHARLES E.BROOKS, ofthe city of Marshall, in. the county of Calhoun and State ofMichigan.

My invention relates to the arrangement of two horizontal shaft-s, eachcarrying a pair of wheels and hung in line with each other across afiume frame, through which the water is conducted; and to thecombination with said hung shafts and wheels of a pair of endlessdriving'- gear chains, having a series of transverse cross-barsattached, which bars carry hinged driving-floats and stay-chains', allforming an endless belt of oats which enter and leave the water invertical planes; the object being to subject continuously, and under themost favorable conditions, a much greater number of floats or buckets,and consequently a larger collective area of surface to the directaction of the moving water thancan be subjected by the known undershotor current-wheels in use, thereby better utilizing the moving force ofthe water, either in a natural water current or when aided by artificialmeans. My invention further relates to a combination, with the forwardwheels, of tappets to lift up the foldeddown oats into a drivingposition before passing the vertical center, and so avoid the shock offalling by their own gravity 5 and also to a means of adjusting thefloat-belt by combining with the liume frame independent adjustable'hanger-beams to enable the submerged line of 11o-ats to be presented tothe water at a suitable height and angle of elevation.

In the accompanying drawing, in two Sheets, Figure lisa side elevationof a water-motor embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is an end view of thesame. Fig. 3 is a broken section of the wheel and float-belt, enlarged.

A represents the posts; B, the sills; C, the girts; and D, the liningsof the flume-frame, within which the wheels and endless float-beltoperate-the side linings not being shown in Fig. l, so as to betterexhibit the interior. E is one of the forward, and F one of thehindwheels, both of the forward wheels having spurs e e, &c., aroundtheir peripheries to gear with any suitable given number of the links inthe endless driving-chains H H. These wheels may be cast entire when nottoo large, but in general I prefer to build them of oak in the usualway, the arms being framed in or bolted to a cast-iron hub-spider. rlherims, being constructed in oak segments, will necessitate the bolting onof cast ring sections carrying the chain spurs, and perhaps of guidesections around the hind wheels F to carry the chains. Each pair ofWheels is secured, one at each end, on a shaft, S; said shafts beinghung, in bearing-boxes, on girts forming part of the frame, or onadjustable hangerbeains G G, to be further described; but, however, theshafts may be hung, the hind boxes should have means for longitudinaladjustment to keep the driving-chains at the proper tension. The endlessgear-chains H H pass respectively over the wheels E F, and may be madeas shown more. clearly in Fig. 3, or in any other suitable andwell-known way, due regardbein g had to the necessary strength fortransmitting the power. J J, Sto., are the cross-bars (usuallyof oak)which extend, at a I uniform distance apart, across the chains, to whichthey are firmly secured by suitable staple or other bolts, and, foradditional security, the links of the chain the bars are fastened to maybe formed with a recessed seat, as shown, in which said bars may besnugly fitted. L L L, Snc., are the drivingoats or buckets, which may bemade of wood, iron, or both combined, and may be made flat, but, ifcurved in cross-section somewhat, as shown, will dip more promptly inahigh stage of water. These iioats are strongly hinged to thecross-bars, so as to fold back against the chains after leaving thewater, as shown. a a a, dic., are the stay-chains, which connect eachiioat with the cross-bar immediately behind it in such positions as willsubject the floats, when unfolded and submerged, to the most effectiveimpact ofthe water. P I?, Sto., are the tappe'ts or lifters, beingsimply rods or bars, secured to the rim of one or each of the forwardwheels E at such points, and having.

such projection as to impinge on and lift up each iioat successively asit approaches on the upper line of belt, to the vert-ical center of thewheel, thus averting the shock which would occur if the floats wereallowed t0 open bya their own gravity while descending past the 2essaies horizontal center. As the tappets must be limited in length toenable them to rise clear and free from the oats, as they leave thewheel below,triangular or camshaped blocks, as at i, may be fastened onthe faces of the iioats to make up for any defect-ive. length in thetappets. There being no torsional strain on the hind shaft, and itswheels F F acting as mere carriers of the iioat-belt, they may be ofmuch lighter construction than the forward wheels and shaft whichtransmit the power to the machinery to be driven. The Hume-frame, whendesigned for streams subject to much rise and fall, should be made, ofcourse, with reference thereto, and, in such cases, it is best to hangthe wheel-shafts on the cast hangerbeams G G, which slide verticallybetween guide-bars b b and the posts. An abutting shoulder, s,willprevent any end motion in the direction of the current, and, by asystem of holes through the posts and guide-bars, as at j', and boltsthat pass under and over the edges of the hanger-beams, as shown, thewheels and belt may not merely be adjusted as to height but perfectfreedom will be allowed to adjust them to any desired vertical angle.

The operation will be readily understood without much additionalexplanation. Then the water is admitted, in the usual way, into theflume-frame, in the direction of the arrows, it acts against the facesof the under ioats and communicates motion to the wheels and ioat-belt,as shown by the arrows. As the oats ascend from the water they lay backon the oat-belt, as shown, until they reach the forward wheels when theyare successively lifted into a driving position by the tappets, asheretofore explained.

The moving force of the water is thus, by my arrangement, appliedcontinuously to a very large collective area of driving surfacepresented squarely to its flow, so that such force operates in the mostdirect and effective manner, and free also from the reactive effectproduced by the return buckets of iioat-belts moving in a horizontalplane and set obliquely with the stream, and which waste a largeproportion of available power.

The two principal advantages of my invention are due to the hanging ofthe frame-work in an inclined position, and to the employment of liftingtappets on the forward wheels. By the inclined position of the mechanismthe buckets are made to project below each other, and thus a veryextended surface is presented to the current. And it will be noticedthat the supporting beams are adjustable at each end, so that themechanism can be placed at different angles of inclination, but raisedto different elevations above the water. By the employment of thelifting tappets the buckets are made to assume an upright position by apositive mot-ion, admitting of n0 failure, and the ta-ppets becomesupports to the buckets when they are exposed to the current. thusrelieving the chains of much strain.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

The combination of wheels E F, carrying a chain of buckets, and tappetsP with supports G, placed at an angle, substantially as shown a-nddescribed, for the purpose set forth.

W'itnesses: CHARLES E. BROOKS.

@Tiro L. JOHNSON, L. E. GALLUP.

